Tapped, as a cigarette

ASHED

What you do to a lit cigarette to remove the gray residue before taking another puff.

"Tapped, as a cigarette" hints at the action of flicking or knocking off the ash from the end of a lit cigarette. The word "tapped" suggests a light strike, which is how smokers often remove ash. The answer "ASHED" plays on the past tense of "ashing," meaning the ash has already been removed. It’s a straightforward verb form tied to a common smoking habit.